Traditional Martial Arts Competition in Rizhao, Shandong - My Experience
Is it worth to participate in a Kung fu tournament? In this article I share my experiences from participating in the national traditional martial arts open competition in Rizhao, Shandong.
The main style was mantis Kung fu, right the style I was learning in Weihai.
Thursday, 26th July – Arrival
We had to arrive on Thursday to register. As Rizhao was about 3 hours by car, we spent the day driving there, having lunch, checking in for the competition and searching for a hotel to stay. There had a coffee machine 😀 – that was really a highlight. I really like coffee but since only instant coffee was available I stopped drinking coffee, and this was my first good coffee after over a year in China.
Friday, 27 July – Preparation
This day there was just a meeting in the morning. I didn’t need to participate, so I went to the park to repeat my form.
In the afternoon we went to the beach and swimming which was really nice.
Saturday, 28th July – The first day of the competition
My age group was scheduled for Sunday, so on this day we only went to watch and to practice our forms in the park. On this day a lot of children were competing. Some of them already had a quite good level, while others only performed the very basic form: Wubuquan, which actually is more a small sequence to practice the five fundamental stances: Mabu, Gongbu, Pubu, Qubu, Xiebu. Also adults were competing, with and without weapon. Some of them were really good it was nice to watch. There were not too many people watching but the atmosphere was nice and from time to time the children were cherishing up their companions shouting “Jiayou!”, which literally means “Add fuel!“
Sunday, 29th – My day to compete!
The competition started at 9 o’clock and we arrived there about half an hour earlier. In the morning I had to perform my fist form. I still had time because my group was one of the latest. So I spent the time warming up, repeating some sequences of my form, walking around and watching the others.
I was a little bit worried and nervous because there were a lot professional athletes already competing for years. Also the granddaughter of my Shifus Shifu was there, competing against me, as we are around the same age. And then there was me, the only foreign girl (there were three more foreigners, all men, who also participated), practicing the mantis Kung fu for a little bit more than a year.
But while I was watching the others preparing for their turn to participate it came to my mind that we also have a lot in common. We were training hard for this day and we want to show our best. We may be all a little bit nervous. I started to relax a little bit.
My performance was not too bad, I got third place, and overall, I ranked 6th out of 10 participants.
In the afternoon I did my stick form and surprisingly got more points then for my fist form, which I did not expect. I felt like I had made a mistake right at the beginning, which confused me, but I managed to continue and finish my form. Actually, I did not make a mistake.
What I learned from this competition
Somehow, when I start to perform while others are watching my brain literally stops working. I also feel like my coordination and strength is decreasing….
My Shifu told me two things:
First, you have to practice your form many many times and also every single technique in the form repeat it for many many times. Like this you don’t have to think anymore and your body’s memory do the work.
Second, and the most important thing is to believe in yourself! I still had in mind that I have no chance for becoming first or second. But now I realized that it might be not right. I know that I can do better!
My Shifu said I don’t need to be afraid, I am already doing very good. My challenge now is to believe in what he said, to really believe in myself. This experience made me aware of this. And since I saw some of the best Mantis Fist practitioners in Shandong, I am even more motivated to continue my training and also aim to become one of the best!
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
What about you? Did you ever participate in a tournament?
If not and you ever have the chance to compete, go for it. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose. The most important thing is you can learn.